Cobras suffer Week 4 knockout; Seminoles take 38-0 win

MILTON — To stay on top in the Eastern Football League, you can't take any week off. The Middleboro Cobras were reminded of that Friday night.

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By GREG DUDEK

southcoasttoday.com

By GREG DUDEK

Posted Aug. 15, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By GREG DUDEK
Posted Aug. 15, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

MILTON — To stay on top in the Eastern Football League, you can't take any week off. The Middleboro Cobras were reminded of that Friday night.

After a 3-0 start to the season and a week off due to the cancellation of the Quincy Militia game on Aug. 2, the Cobras lost all momentum in a 38-0 blowout loss to the Eastern Mass. Seminoles Friday night at Milton High School. With the win, the Seminoles moved to 4-1 and took over first place in the EFL standing.

The Cobras lost the opportunity to take control of the game in the first half by squandering a couple of scoring opportunities. Instead, the Seminoles got out to a 10-0 halftime lead and then poured it on in the second half.

"In the second half we lost our composure," said Cobras' head coach Chris Pabst. "Things weren't working right. They had some big plays. We didn't and they had all of them.

"It's off the table now"¦ a perfect season is gone. This loss makes us humble. Now we have to dig down and see what kind of football team we are."

Middleboro's opening drive of the game looked promising, until they failed to convert a fourth-and-one from the Seminole 30-yard line.

An interception by Cobra defensive back Jeff Stewart got the Cobras back on track, but the game remained scoreless throughout most of the first half.

The Seminoles found the end zone first, with two minutes remaining in the second quarter, for a 7-0 lead and added a field goal just before halftime for a 10-0 lead.

Safety Jay Meyers tried to keep the Cobras in the game at the start of the third quarter with an interception, but the rest of the defense failed to follow the lead as they went on to allow a season-high in points.

The Seminoles gashed the Cobra defense with big plays in the second half, including a 98-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

"There were mistakes in every aspect of the game," said team owner and offensive lineman Garrett Perry. "The defense was just stranded. It certainly wasn't our most fundamentally sound game defensively, but the D is still as good as a couple of weeks ago. When we get back to practice, they won't be psychologically wrecked. They'll be ready to get back to work."

Middleboro's offense did not fare well either, as Pabst said a lack of execution contributed to their woes. An inability to hang on to the football added to their problems and several key penalties stopped scoring drives.

The Cobras also turned the ball over three times — for a running total of eight turnovers in the past two games — and their mishandling of the football cost them.

"You have to do a lot of work on your own to stay disciplined," Pabst said. "At this level it's always going to be this way. The team that usually makes the least amount of mistakes will win. Those mental mistakes will kill you. You have to come prepared."

With the game out of hand in the second half, Pabst went to the second string to get them some reps, but Eastern Mass. Didn't let up, tacking on a few more points.

Cobras' backup quarterback James Merrick suffered a leg injury, and Pabst said he is most likely done for the season. Pabst added that the team will look to Randy Campbell now as Kurt Leone's backup instead of trying to sign a free agent.

Running back Chris Cormier made the most of his time on the field in the lopsided game, opening the eyes of the coaching staff and some veteran players with several hard runs late in the contest.

"The silver lining is it's Week 4," Perry said. "We aren't looking at a week ahead of us of loud screaming speeches. The guys are just going to go back to work and fix our mistakes. I feel confident we are going to stick together and improve from this."

The loss will stick with the team a little longer than usual with an extra day to prepare for their upcoming game on Saturday night. They host another top-flight EFL team in the Worcester Mass. Fury at Battis Field at 7:30 p.m. Like the Cobras, the Fury come in at 3-1.

The two teams have had their moments in recent years. The last time the Fury visited Battis Field was in 2012, as the Cobras celebrated an EFL championship with a 39-6 win over the Fury.

The Fury got their payback last year, beating the Cobras in the regular season, and then knocking the Cobras out of the playoffs in the semifinal round.

Though the recent contests have not been close, Pabst believes this new rivalry will see some final minute heroics sooner rather than later.

"This game isn't going to be won in the first quarter," Pabst said. "It will probably come down to the last two minutes."

The postponement of the Quincy Militia game moved the Hall of Fame induction of late Cobra great Paulie "Rodent" Messia to Saturday. Messia played 14 years for the Cobras starting in the early 1990s. Messia's family will accept the honor during a halftime ceremony.